


lockerswap

by dragonGnostic



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (i think this counts its gonna be a while til The Ship), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, M/M, Monokubs appear as little as possible because I hate them, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-09-23 02:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonGnostic/pseuds/dragonGnostic
Summary: Instead of waking up in the locker next to Kaede's, Shuichi starts out with Kokichi as his partner instead. This changes the entire course of the killing game.





	1. Prologue

Shuichi became aware of himself in a dark, cramped place. His head throbbed and his limbs ached as if he had been standing, crushed in this narrow space, for a while. It took him less than three seconds to work himself into a claustrophobic panic, frantically feeling his cold, metallic surroundings in the pitch black for some way out. His hands caught on a latch. He fumbled with it for a moment before releasing himself, stumbling, out into the open. He was thankful that nobody was there to see him fall flat on his face when his wobbly legs wouldn’t quite obey him.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the dimly lit room as he looked around. It appeared to be an abandoned high school classroom, overgrown with weeds, climbing plants growing up the walls. What looked like barbed wire obscured the windows. He was getting a closer look at one of the windows to see if he could see what was outside, when a sudden rattling made Shuichi nearly jump clear out of his skin. The closed locker next to the one he had just freed himself from burst open, dumping another person onto the floor. 

The stranger didn’t notice Shuichi at first, apprehensively picking himself up and looking around. He had wild, black hair that curled over his shoulders and an all-white outfit that looked a bit frayed around the edges, a black-and-white checkered kerchief providing the only contrast. When his violet eyes wandered to meet Shuichi’s own, his entire demeanor transformed, tense shoulders relaxing and the uncertain expression on his face melting into an easy grin, giving Shuichi the distinct impression that now that he knew he had an audience he was putting on an act.

“Who are you? Are you the one who kidnapped me?” The stranger’s words were pointed and accusatory, but his tone of voice was light and lilting, as if he were telling a joke. 

“A-ah… me?” Shuichi’s tongue stumbled over the syllables as he tried to form words. “I didn’t kidnap you, I woke up in a locker too just now. If you got kidnapped, then so was I. My name is Shuichi Saihara, and I’m the Ultimate Detective. Maybe you’ve heard of me.”

“Hmmmm… have I?” The other boy replied, continuing his teasing tone of voice. “The name doesn’t ring a bell! Or maybe it does, and I’m just not telling you. I’m a liar, you know, so you shouldn’t trust anything I say. Anyway, _my_ name is Kokichi Ouma, Ultimate Supreme Leader! My secret organization has over 10,000 members throughout the whole world, so you'd better not get on my bad side!” 

“I’ve never heard of such an organization… but, I guess it wouldn’t be secret then.” From the way he talked, it seemed like Kokichi was just messing with him. But Shuichi couldn’t tell for sure; his demeanour was difficult to read. But anyway, they seemed to both be stuck in the same situation, and figuring out what was going on was the most important thing right now. “Say, do you remember how we got here? Maybe we were drugged… I can’t even remember the last thing I was doing before waking up here.”

“Nope! I don’t remember a thing,” Kokichi chirped, seeming to lose interest in the conversation as he began examining his surroundings. He went up to the blocked windows and tried to look through them, just like Shuichi had attempted to do earlier. Shuichi watched the smaller boy investigate, now lost in thought, reflexively jumping into detective mode as he pondered over what to think of this current situation. The fact that there was a huge gap in his memories as to what got him here was very concerning.

“Why are you just standing there?” Kokichi interjected into his musings somewhat petulantly. “Have you tried the door?” 

Shuichi turned around to look behind him where Kokichi was pointing and there was, indeed, a door. “No, I haven’t,” he said, somewhat sheepish. Some detective he was. He cautiously approached the door. The knob turned easily, and it swung open into a dilapidated hallway. There was grass and even small trees growing through the flooring, suggesting that this school had been abandoned for a long time. 

Kokichi peeked out through the doorway as well, grabbing onto Shuichi’s arm. Shuichi started a little at the unexpected contact. “Wow! What a dump. Help me find the exit so I can get out of here.” 

Shuichi let Kokichi take the lead in investigating, always relieved to have somebody else taking charge. Barely a minute had gone by when he heard two sets of footsteps approaching followed by a blonde girl in a pink vest and what looked like… a robot? emerging from around the corner.

The girl appeared to be a high school student just like Shuichi. (And Kokichi, presumably. Shuichi hadn’t asked, but despite the other’s short stature and boyish air he looked to be around his age). When she saw the pair of them she smiled in greeting and came over, her companion in tow. 

"More people! Would you two also be Ultimates by any chance?" The pink girl asked. Despite the circumstances, he found himself feeling like he could trust her. She came off as very sincere and assertive, and her features gave Shuichi the impression of somebody very caring. Her hair looked soft.

"Uh, yeah, we are. How'd you know that?" Shuichi noticed that while Kokichi let him do the talking, he was eyeing the new people up and down, gaze lingering warily on the robot person. 

"Everybody we've run into so far has been one. I'm Kaede Akamatsu, Ultimate Pianist, by the way."

"And my name is K1-B0, Ultimate Robot! You, however, can just call me Kiibo," her companion exclaimed proudly, though Shuichi would almost describe it as yelling, like it had trouble regulating its volume.

"Wooowww! You're really a robot?" Kokichi said in an amazed voice, going right up to Kiibo and starting to poke at him. Shuichi couldn’t help wonder the same thing. Kiibo moved and emoted very organically, so if he was a robot, he was very lifelike. 

"Yes, but please, consider me a fellow high school student. I was built by the great Professor Idabashi to learn and mature just like any other human being, and he raised me as if I was his very own child.” 

"I see… nice to meet you Kiibo, and you too, Kaede. Kokichi, maybe you should leave Kiibo alone. He looks uncomfortable with you prodding at him like that."

“Don’t let yourself get tricked. Robots don’t have emotions, they’re just programmed to act like they have them,” Kokichi rebutted. 

Shuichi sighed. He gave up and turned to Kaede instead. "Ahhh.. sorry about him. Anyway, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Shuichi Saihara. I'm the Ultimate Detective."

"I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader, Kokichi Ouma!" Kokichi interjected while wrestling with Kiibo for his arm, allegedly to see if he could fire lasers out of it. 

"Do you know anything about how you got here? Neither of us can remember anything."

"I guess you haven't met the Monokubs yet," Kaede said. "There were these weird animatronic teddy bears that told us we're in some school called Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. But they wouldn't tell us how we got here, only that we’re supposed to do an “activity” together soon and that we should get to know our classmates. Supposedly, there’s 16 of us Ultimates here." 

Bears? Shuichi didn’t really know what Kaede was talking about, but that cemented his need to investigate and see what was going on for himself. "That all seems very fishy…I think I'm going to keep looking around for an exit with Kokichi. Maybe I can figure out how we got here, and why." 

"That's what Kiibo and I are doing, too. Good luck, I already feel much better knowing that we have the Ultimate Detective with us." The smile she flashed was so warm and sincere it made Shuichi feel just a bit better about the nerve wracking situation he had woken up to, and he didn't have the heart to tell her he wasn't a real detective. 

"I wouldn't trust them," Kokichi said as the other pair walked away in the opposite direction. "Anyone here could be working with the kidnappers who put us here," here he put on a sly expression and put a finger to his lips, "...even me." 

Shuichi felt a fresh wave of worry settle in his stomach. Kokichi was right, he knew. He had no idea what was going on and who he should trust. But Shuichi didn’t really get the feeling that Kokichi was actually responsible for their current situation. And even if he was, Shuichi may as well stick with him to keep an eye on him.

Shuichi and Kokichi spent the next while poking around the school building, running into other Ultimates all with similar stories to theirs. The exception was Rantaro Amami, who said he couldn't even remember his Ultimate talent. He seemed weirdly intense, but relaxed. Shuichi thought he was probably just as anxious as everyone else here. 

Despite his childishness, Kokichi proved himself to be a sharp and observational partner in investigation. He had a critical eye for detail, and made sure he had thoroughly swept each room before moving on. Shuichi often found himself having to hurry to keep up. He chattered about his alleged secret organization, though the more he talked about it the more it felt to Shuichi that it was an elaborate lie, masking whatever his true backstory was. He seemed to enjoy jokes and pranks, which would be fine by Shuichi if he didn't know exactly how to get under his skin. Overall though, Shuichi had to say he appreciated that he had somebody with him as he wandered the strange, run down building, half convinced something awful was about to happen. He wasn't particularly in the state of mind to humor Kokichi's jokes, was all.

Shuichi tried not to get his hopes up when they found the doors leading outside, but still almost fainted when he saw the huge wall surrounding the grounds around the school building, a phenomenal feat of architecture that Shuichi felt like he should've heard of before in the outside world. Whoever trapped them here had a lot of resources, and his heart sank at the sheer breadth of the mystery he had unwittingly found himself a part of.

Kokichi grabbed onto his arm again, but this time Shuichi was used to it, and he actually had to admit that the contact was grounding as the sky spun and he felt ready to pass out. "Looks like we're trapped!" he exclaimed in a cheerful voice. Shuichi could never rely on anything Kokichi said to determine how he was feeling, or his facial expressions for that matter. Right now the boy looked ecstatic as he surveyed their airy new prison. "This should be fun." Shuichi couldn’t say he agreed.

What looked like five colorful teddy bears, just like the ones Kaede had described earlier, popped up out of nowhere and confirmed that yes, they were in fact trapped. The way they talked gave Shuichi a headache, as if they were putting on a puppet show for children. He was relieved when they left, leaving him alone on the grounds with Kokichi once again.

“I doubt that there would be anywhere for us to escape through, but we might as well check anyw- wait, slow down!” Kokichi was already wandering away to investigate the wide-open space and Shuichi awkwardly had to half-jog to catch up. He’d have time to freak out more about this situation later. There were still more clues to find.

They had just introduced themselves to the 16th Ultimate when a loud chiming rang out. After a quick inspection, it was coming from the nearest monitor. Even outside, they seemed to be dotted pretty regularly throughout the school’s campus. The screen displayed the five Monokubs, who invited them to come to the gymnasium for some sort of opening ceremony. The timing of the announcement convinced Shuichi that they were being watched closely, which didn’t sit well with him. At a loss for further options, the two of them dutifully made their way back to the main building.

Shuichi waited in the gym for the rest of the 16 Ultimates to arrive, anxiety burning at a steady, nauseating roil in his gut. He looked over and saw that Kokichi was fidgety as well, though a large grin was plastered on his face, possibly another one of his lies. It didn't take long for everybody to be gathered. All in one place like this, Shuichi thought, they all looked flashy and a bit ridiculous in their strangely specifically tailored outfits. He guessed it was just because Ultimates liked to make themselves known as separate from the average person.

Unexpectedly, the five bears appeared inside of five giant mechs, throwing everybody into a panic until Rantaro boldly approached one of them and asked what it wanted.

“ITS-A-KILLING-GAME,” the green one spat out. It took Shuichi a second to process what the robotic voice had said. When it registered, he felt as if he had gotten dunked into a freezing lake. The robots’ continuing, inane banter was miles away, and simply added to the unreality of the situation. He was lost under the water's surface, unable to breathe or think. Another bear, bigger than the Monokubs and half black and half white, appeared and started explaining the rules. The words barely registered to Shuichi.

Is that really why the 16 of them were here? It couldn't be possible. Yet, they were perfectly trapped, and their captors have proven themselves to be fully capable of executing it, with the level of surveillance and deadly-looking mechs for enforcement. 

All Shuichi could do was squeeze his eyes shut and try to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading ^_^


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I wanted to get this posted faster but I've started classes again now. Don't worry though, I'm planning on working on this fic til its done even if it kills me.

Once he had finished gleefully delivering his announcement, the black and white bear disappeared the same way he had arrived; suddenly and without any indication of where exactly he had gone. Were there hidden trapdoors? Shuichi made a mental note to study the rooms more closely later. The Exisals were less subtle, filing out of the gymnasium door while their pilots bickered among each other, the sound of their heavy footsteps quickly receding. The sixteen Ultimate students were alone once again. 

It was Kaede that broke the stifling silence. "Nobody is killing anybody here. We're going to find a way to escape this place, I know it."

Shuichi was relieved to see everyone else agree. He tried to push his fears aside as he paid attention to the discussion.

It didn’t take long for Gonta to reveal that he had noticed a suspicious manhole in the boiler room, sounding unsure of himself. Shuichi knew exactly what manhole he was talking about. Kokichi had pointed it out, but after several tries, neither of them had been able to lift it up, even working together. Everybody quickly latched onto the idea of the possible lead, and soon the gym was clearing as the Ultimates followed Gonta out to see for themselves.

Somewhat out of habit now, he turned to Kokichi to make a comment, only to see that he was no longer standing by him. He must have slipped away while Shuichi wasn’t paying attention to follow the others. He couldn’t help but feel a bit like he got ditched, but at the same time Shuichi was already internally berating himself for even assuming they were friends in the first place. 

He found everybody already there in the overgrown boiler room, crowding around Gonta. He tried to make eye contact with Kokichi, but the other boy seemed wholly focused on whatever he was looking at. Shuichi fidgeted with the brim of his cap.

Gonta lifted up the manhole as if it were a fallen penny he was plucking from the ground. Shuichi hesitated before taking his turn down the metal ladder. He wasn’t the best with heights, and the fact that it was too dark inside the manhole to see how far down the ladder went didn’t help in the slightest. When his shaky feet finally touched the floor, he looked around to find himself in a large, cavernous room that smelled of metal and stagnant water. Rusty pipes lined the walls, and there were quite a few pieces of abandoned industrial equipment, as if part of a factory that was long out of order.

Most noticeable was a tunnel opening into one of the walls with a sign labeled “EXIT” right in front. Could their escape _really_ be that easy? Shuichi couldn’t help but feel doubtful, and similar sentiments was echoed by several other classmates. 

“We won’t know until we try!” Kaede encouraged. She seemed to have garnered the group’s respect since their arrival at the school, and Shuichi couldn’t help but be grateful that somebody was taking charge and trying to keep them united. If everybody operated on their own, things would get out of control fast. If they all worked together, though, maybe nobody would let the killing game’s rules get to them. Shuichi dreaded what would happen if their unity fell apart.

But the hope that this really was a secret exit they had discovered without their captor’s knowledge was quickly squashed when, after their first failed attempt through, they all woke up exactly where they had started, greeted by Monokuma himself. It was a setup all along. There was no way to escape. 

Kaede seemed determined to have them all try again, citing that Monokuma claimed that the tunnel really would lead them to an exit. The tunnel had been awful; dark and convoluted, with shifting platforms and a slick floor that made it all too easy to trip. Everyone was already tired and battered and bruised. But still, they tried again, in case Kaede might be proven right. After all, what other options did they have?

By the sixth attempt, Shuichi could see that everyone was reaching their breaking point. Even Kaede was having trouble masking her exhaustion. Despite that, she tried to keep everybody going. “C’mon, one more time-”

She was interrupted by Kokichi. “Knock it off already. You’re free to keep trying on your own, but forcing us to join you is basically torture.”

“W-wait, that’s not-” 

“You’re denying us the right to give up in an impossible situation and forcing us to keep trying with you. You’re going to say that’s not torture?” His face was turning red and tears filmed his eyes, and his voice shook with emotion. Shuichi was shocked by how upset Kokichi seemed at her. The first couple attempts to escape, he had actually been a supporting voice behind Kaede’s encouragements to keep trying. 

Kaede blanched as others started to agree with Kokichi. Just as quickly though, Gonta and Kaito pushed back, horrified that people were going to give up. As voices started getting heated, Kaede fell silent, and Shuichi thought she looked like she was barely holding herself together. 

Shuichi was frustrated at how quickly Kokichi’s statement had thrown the room into chaos. And Kokichi wasn’t helping to diffuse the situation, either. In fact, he seemed to be getting more people pissed off at him. Tenko looked just about ready to wring his neck.

"Hey- wait a minute.” Shuichi raised his voice so that he could be heard over the rest of the conversation. To his own surprise, they all quieted. “Kokichi, I don't think it’s really fair to put the blame on Kaede here. All of us want to get out of here, and so far this has been the only escape route that might even remotely work. We shouldn’t be putting each other down like this.”

“Thank you, Shuichi! My thoughts exactly!” Kaito piggybacked.

"Shuichi has a point," Tsumugi, who had been one of the voices against Kaede’s plan earlier, ceded.

Kokichi didn’t say anything, expression blank and unreadable. Shuichi worried that he’d made him angry somehow.

Kaede seemed more composed than she had been a minute ago. Some of the tension that had been building in the room seemed to dissipate, too. “It’s ok," she said. "I’m sure everyone’s tired after trying to escape for so long. Let’s get some rest, and decide together if we’d like to try again tomorrow, alright?”

The monitor that Shuichi hadn’t noticed was installed in the room chimed, announcing that it was 10pm.

“Night time already… it’s late,” Rantaro mused.

“Didn’t they say that the cafeteria opens at 8am? Let’s all meet there tomorrow,” Kokichi suggested. 

“Good idea!” Kaede definitely looked a lot better now, no longer like she was barely keeping her composure. Shuichi was relieved.

As the exhausted group started to disband, Shuichi was surprised to see Kaede approach him. “Thanks for speaking up for me back there… I shouldn’t blame myself for wanting to get out of here. I’ve noticed you’re always very quiet during discussions. You should speak your mind more.” She smiled encouragingly and Shuichi looked away, flustered. 

“S-sure.. Thank you…”

The room was almost empty now, everyone gone to check out the dormitories. Shuichi looked around and realized that he had missed Kokichi again. If he really was upset with Shuichi, he wanted to apologize to him and be on good terms again. He’d have to find him tomorrow.

That night, Shuichi had trouble sleeping in the bedroom he had been provided with. Even with his eyes closed, it was impossible to pretend to himself that he was in bed at home. The mattress didn’t feel like his own, and the familiar musty smell of his uncle’s apartment was missing, too. He couldn't help but wonder if he’d ever sleep there again, or if this was where he was going to be for the rest of his life, however long that may be. When he finally passed out, he slept fitfully, plagued by nightmares he couldn't quite remember when he woke up.

Next he opened his eyes, it was 6:30am. Way before 8, when they'd agreed to meet for breakfast. The idea of staying in this strange room until then with only his thoughts for company seemed unbearable to Shuichi, so he got dressed and braved leaving his room to go to the library. It was a room he felt could have been more thoroughly investigated. There were so many books that yesterday he didn't get the chance to take a look at all of them. Libraries were also simply a calming place for him, books being one of the small comforts in his life.

The back of his neck prickled as he walked through the campus by the morning sun's pale light. He couldn't see anyone else, but if anybody was seriously entertaining the idea of killing somebody to escape, Shuichi would be a perfect target, with no witnesses around. He knew he couldn't let that fear keep him hiding in his room like a frightened animal, though. Thankfully, he got to the library safe and sound.

It seemed like no time at all when Shuichi checked his Monopad and saw that it was almost 8:00. He wanted to catch Kokichi before he went to the dining hall, both to apologize for yesterday's argument and to let him know of this morning’s findings. 

He exited the library and almost immediately ran into just who he was looking for. Kokichi looked relaxed and chipper as he strode towards the dining hall. Shuichi intercepted him "Hey- Kokichi. I'm sorry about yesterday, for arguing with you. Maybe I overstepped a little… I hope you're not mad at me."

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked. "I was lying about being upset yesterday. You were right! If we want to survive here, we need to stick together." 

"Wait- why would you lie, then?"

"Just because! I'm a liar, you know." 

Shuichi would have to unpack that later. There was a lot he still needed to understand about the strange boy. "Ah.. well, anyway, it's almost when we'd agreed to meet for breakfast. Let's hurry." 

The cafeteria was awkwardly quiet while everyone waited for the rest to arrive, though some were already helping themselves to breakfast. When Himiko finally dragged herself into the room, making the 16th student, conversation picked up. Kaede seemed to have woken up that morning with a renewed supply of energy and determination, and was already leading a brainstorm as to their next move.

Just as they were getting started, the black and white bear popped up out of nowhere, heralded by a chorus of surprised gasps and shrieks.

"I have an exciting announcement~" he proclaimed. “A motive to help break the ice a little. I know you might be a little shy about making the first kill, so I’ve made it a little easier with what I call the First Blood Perk! For the first murder, no class trial will be held. No trial, no executions- it’s a free kill."

"Huh? That’s all? You just gotta kill somebody to get outta here?" 

Kiibo looked aghast. "Miu! Calm down! You don't actually mean to-"

Overlapping voices filled the room as the students expressed their dismay, up until Kaito announced his intention to fight Monokuma. The Monokubs appeared in their Exisals to intervene. Shuichi really thought that Kaito was going to be killed then and there, but then-

Shuichi saw with his own two eyes as one of the mechs accidentally stepped onto Monokuma, causing it to loudly crunch. There was a couple second's shocked silence as everyone, Monokubs included, just stared. But not even that was able to halt their cartoonish squabbling for long. Shuichi was getting used to tuning it out. Within a couple minutes, they had left, taking the "headmaster's" crushed remains with them.

What now?

Kokichi seemed convinced that the killing game was over now that Monokuma was dead, but several others were more skeptical, and Shuichi had to agree with them. But he also had to admit that the idea of a little hope was tempting, though it rang like a lie. In the end, Kokichi got the final word in and on that note, the group started to disband, everyone going their separate ways. 

Before he could leave again, Shuichi pulled Kokichi to the side, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. “I found something that could be a clue... can I show it to you? I’d like a second opinion.”

“Sure thing, Shuichi! I see my trusty sidekick is already working hard at solving the case.”

After looking around to see if anybody else was listening in or following, Shuichi lead the other boy through the hall and down the small stairway leading to the basement. 

“I was looking over the library again today before the morning announcement, and there’s something very suspicious.” He pushed open the door to the dim, dusty room and held it open for Kokichi. After the door shut again, Shuichi continued. “Look, books are stacked on every surface, but that shelf over there has nothing on it. When I was taking a closer look, I found this.” He pressed the hidden switch he found, and the shelf swung open like a large door. Behind it, a black and white door was revealed, a keypad next to it. 

Kokichi’s expression showed that he was impressed by the discovery. He approached the door, clearly interested, and looked it over. 

“I put dust over the key-card reader, so if somebody uses it, we’ll know.”

“So you think this was built for one of the classmates? One of them is working with Monokuma?”

“I do… that’s the only logical explanation. Maybe if we find whoever’s behind the scenes of the killing game, we’ll be able to get out of here. Even if Monokuma really is destroyed, we’re still trapped.”

“Hmm… so what do you want to do about it if you find this traitor? Kill them? Torture the information out of them? I’ve done plenty of that in my day, you know. My organization has a lot of enemies.”

“N-no! None of that. I’ll figure it out when we get there… for now, let’s see if somebody really is using this door.”

“Wow! My Shuichi is so smart, we’re so lucky to have such a talented detective with us to solve this mystery!”

Shuichi flushed at the complement. “I could be completely wrong, though. My conclusions could lead us to disaster. I don’t even really deserve my title of Ultimate Detective, I’ve only really solved one case, and…" He trailed off.

“Aww, I think you’re doing great!” 

“Ah, if you say so…” Shuichi had no clue of Kokichi’s encouraging words were facetious or not, but having the other’s approval for his theory was reassuring nonetheless. Kokichi seemed to keep many of his thoughts to himself, but Shuichi was inclined to believe that he was much more intelligent than he lead on. Smarter than Shuichi himself, definitely. That brought Shuichi to the conclusion that Kokichi was sitting back and letting Shuichi figure things out on his own. 

Shuichi wondered what he should do now. The only plan he had devised involved waiting, but if somebody were to use the door behind the bookcase, it would most likely be during the night time, where one would have the least chance of being noticed by the other students.

“I’m going to look around the library a bit more, and see if I can’t find anything else that could provide us with some clues,” he said aloud. 

Kokichi didn’t comment, but stayed in the room and observed as Shuichi rooted around the library, examining every detail closely. He couldn’t help but feel like Kokichi was acting as some sort of judge, scoring Shuichi’s detective skills to see how successful he was while occasionally throwing out some nonsensical quips.

After he had swept through the library again, Shuichi went and carefully examined all the other rooms in the school he was able to access. The hours dragged by, but Shuichi didn’t find anything that he and Kokichi hadn’t already noticed when searching through the building the first time. The nighttime announcement went off, signalling that it was 10pm.

“That late already? I guess we should try to sleep. Goodnight, Kokichi… thank you for helping me investigate today, even if I don’t think I found anything new.” 

It was true that Kokichi had spent the whole time just watching, but Shuichi always found it useful to have somebody to talk to to get his thoughts out when he theorized. Whether it was on purpose or not, it was because of Kokichi that he had three meals that day, since he periodically announced that he was starving and they needed to go to the kitchen immediately or he would die. It always just happened to be when Shuichi was getting listless and demotivated, just when a good meal was what he needed. Kokichi’s jokes and fake stories about his secret organization also helped Shuichi from spending too much time in his own head, though the way Kokichi sometimes had them talking in circles also made his head hurt. “See you tomorrow?” Shuichi added. 

Kokichi leaned back and smiled. “Sure thing. See ya later, Shuichi~”

Shuichi's sleep that night was much easier than the night before. This time, it felt like there was hope that they would be able to find a way out. Soon, the killing game might become nothing but a bad joke. 

_Ding dong bing bong! Rise and shine, ursine!_

Shuichi blearily opened his eyes, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling as his head started to clear of sleep. Right. This was where he was living. But maybe, today they would get out. 

Those hopes were dashed almost immediately after stepping foot in the dining hall. He'd barely greeted his classmates when, in his usual, inexplicable way, Monokuma showed himself once again, as good as new. Shuichi couldn't even find it in himself to be shocked. Instead, the fear and doubt he'd been trying to hold back simply came flooding back in.

"A time limit is now in effect! If a murder does not occur by night time, two days from now… every student forced to participate in this killing game will die!” 

It took a minute to sink in. Two days before they all died, unless somebody committed murder? Would they… would they really make it? Once again, reality started closing in around Shuichi, trapping him in its unavoidable truth. His fellow students discussing the inevitability of all of their deaths were in no way helping. 

“-nee-heehee, just kidding, nobody will be sad if I die. But I dunno if the same can be said for everyone else. Anyway… I’m gonna take off now.” Kokichi’s last remark piqued Shuichi’s curiosity, but Kokichi had already disappeared off on his own once again. Shuichi couldn’t even go after him, not when everyone else was still gathered. Nobody could stop Miu from leaving shortly after, either. Several others seemed on the verge of walking out, too, from the doubtful expressions on their faces. They were on the verge of giving up on Kaede's attempts at teamwork.

“Listen, I know we’re all under a lot of pressure here, but nobody else should leave just yet.” Kaede said, voice firm and steady. It seemed to be enough to get the remaining 14 to stay and brainstorm several different strategies for dealing with the new deadline, at least for a couple minutes. Rantaro ended up walking out in the middle of it, without any explanation, aside from a couple cryptic remarks about his missing memory. In the end, they didn’t have a plan, but what they did have was a sort of fragile sense of unity, which was almost as important if they wanted to survive.

After the discussion's conclusion, Shuichi resolved to find Kokichi. He was concerned by the way he had so quickly stormed off after the announcement of the time limit. Though so far he'd proven himself inscrutable and hard to reach past a superficial level, maybe Shuichi would be able to provide him some comfort with his findings from that morning before breakfast. Kokichi was the only person he could talk with about it, after all. Even if Kokichi ended up being the one working with Monokuma (in which case Shuichi would be screwed, but so be it) there was nobody else he could risk trusting with his current theories.

He knocked on the door labeled with Kokichi’s portrait. "Kokichi? Could you open the door? It's me, Shuichi."

He was met with no response for at least a minute. He was about to knock again when the door suddenly swung open, revealing a grinning face. "You here to take Monokuma up on that first blood perk? I wouldn't mind if it was you, Shuichi." 

Shuichi decided to ignore his teasing in favor of pressing on. “_Somebody used the keycard reader in the library_," he murmured in a low voice, looking around. Nobody else was out, but if anyone was in their rooms, they might be able to hear their discussion through the door. "We should go there to discuss this any further."

"I think I have a plan- or at least, an idea for a plan," Shuichi continued once they were safely within the closed doors of the library.

"Oh? What is it?" Kokichi prompted.

"Now that we know for sure that one of us here is working with Monokuma and most likely responsible for his return, the timing's too convenient, what we need to do is catch them in the act. I have reason to believe that whoever the traitor is may also be the mastermind of this entire killing game. We’d have a good chance of ending this if we stopped them." 

“And how are you going to do that? Ask nicely? Rough ‘em up? Kill them?” He seemed to get more worked up as he continued. “Don’t do anything idiotic, Shuichi, because it won’t end well for you. If one of us is working with Monokuma, who knows how much they know and what they can do?”

“But, we can’t just do nothing…” It felt like a weak defense. He wondered if Kokichi was angry with him for real this time. Shuichi didn’t do anything as Kokichi stalked out of the room, leaving him alone in the library. 

Time weighed heavy on Shuichi for the rest of the day. He didn’t see heads nor tails of Kokichi again, so he decided that it was about time he tried to get to know his other classmates more instead. Understanding his fellow Ultimates could end up being a matter of life or death, in fact. So he wandered around the school, chatting with whoever he ran into to see what they had to say about what was going on. Some, like Himiko, Tsumugi and Gonta, were easy to read. Others, such as Maki, Miu, and Rantaro, were withdrawn or defensive and difficult to talk to, so Shuichi ended up leaving them alone after a couple minutes. 

He ended up hanging out with Kiibo for a while, learning more about his backstory with professor Idabashi and the technicalities of his mechanical body. He was interesting to talk to, though the... unique quality of the robot’s singing would haunt him forever. If he had doubts about Kiibo’s person-hood before, he was convinced now that his personality and emotions were genuine. He thought back to Kokichi’s skepticism when they first had met Kiibo and wondered if he would ever be able to convince Kokichi to change his viewpoint.

The next day, two new rooms opened up: Miu and Kaede’s labs. Miu holed up in hers almost immediately, glad that there was “fuckin finally somethin worth my fuckin time around here”. Kaede seemed to similarly enjoy the piano room, and that day she ended up hosting several mini-concerts to calm people down and distract them from the looming deadline. 

However hard Shuichi looked, though, he couldn’t find Kokichi outside of his room. The Ultimate Supreme Leader didn’t show up at breakfast with everybody else, either. Shuichi couldn’t help but worry, and also wonder if he was being actively avoided. 

It scared Shuichi how fast the day of the deadline arrived. That morning in the cafeteria (everybody was gathered there but Kokichi), Kaede overviewed the plan that they all had decided on. That evening, they were all to stay together in the game room where they could all keep an eye on each other and do their best to fight against Monokuma when the time limit ran out. 

When the evening rolled around, just before they had agreed to regroup, Shuichi decided to try Kokichi’s door one last time. He rapped on it loudly. “Kokichi? We’re all going to the game room to wait for the deadline. You should come with us.”

Just like the other times he’s tried, there was no response from the other end. Shuichi sighed. So he'd be doing this on his own. If the plan went as it was supposed to, Shuichi wouldn't even need to monitor the library, but he was prepared to do what he could to intervene if he noticed anything suspicious as he surreptitiously kept an eye on it. 

About an hour before the deadline was when things started to fall apart.

“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” Miu shrieked, running out of room as if she could escape the maddening music that blared out of every single monitor on the property. 

“Miu! Come back!” Kaito called out. But she was already gone. 

“I’ll go find her. I’m sure I can reason with her. It’ll only be a minute,” Kiibo offered over the noise. He left the room quickly.

It was long past a minute, and neither of them were back. Tensions high, Gonta, Kaito and Rantaro volunteered to look for Miu and Kiibo. Now only 10 Ultimates occupied the room, and Shuichi felt the absence of the missing students acutely. He felt a deep dread that something horrible was just about to happen. 

And then it did.

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the basement hall.” Nobody in the room was breathing. 

“A-a-a body…? It couldn’t be that…” Tenko trailed off.

Shuichi took a deep breath. “We need to go out. To check for ourselves.” 

Hesitantly, he approached the door and stumbled out into the hallway. There was something on the floor that Kaito, Gonta and Miu were gathered around. It took a massive amount of willpower for Shuichi to force his legs to move forwards until he could clearly see what it was that they were looking at.

It wasn’t an object, but Kiibo laying on the floor. Except… where the head should've been, there was a mass of bare wires and broken circuitry. The plastic casing that had formed Kiibo's face was cracked into disjointed fragments. The rest of the body was completely still, betraying absolutely no remaining life in the robot that had been talking animatedly with them just ten minutes ago. 

Off by the wall, a large wooden mallet looked strewn to the side. Miu was sitting down on her knees in the middle of the hallway, staring at Kiibo's metallic remains. She seemed to be out of breath, and there was an obvious tremor in her arms.

"Well, well, well. We have a winner for the first murder of the game! As promised, there's no trial for the first kill. So, Miu, are you ready to claim your reward?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter was ok! I made some fixes (hopefully nothing was too distracting...), but I could've missed something. As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments!


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